My David Letterman Tribute

I don't have a David Letterman tribute.

That is to say, I don't really feel qualified to write one, nor did I really feel moved to... until I started to think about it and I suddenly remembered how I used to stay up late when I was a kid to watch his show. This was back when he was on NBC, right after a man named Johnny Carson. That was back when late night actually meant something, when you actually had to stay up late to be a part of it just in case something special happened... and when Dave was in his prime, well, that something special was usually just Dave being Dave... because back then Dave was funnier than just about anybody.

Here's the part where I admit I've never seen an episode of Dave's show on CBS. Of course, that can't be true and I'm sure I must have seen it a few times over the past couple decades, but if I did, I sure can't remember when or what happened. I'm not sure if I changed, Dave changed, or if it was just that the world changed. These days, late night means whenever you catch a clip on Youtube. You don't need to stay up late in case something special happens, because anything memorable will be up online the next morning. It also doesn't help that talk shows now always seem to have on people from reality shows or the latest Twilight movie. Engaging in forced conversation with lame actors is what Leno excels at, but Dave is at his best when he's having an actual conversation with somebody like Harvey Pekar or Warren Zevon or a coked up Crispin Glover.

So I guess my tribute isn't much of a tribute at all, since it could have been published whenever he left NBC, because that's when I left too. But, really, I just wanted an excuse to post that picture.